International Day of the Woman, March 8, 2012

Here in Burkina, the International Day of the Woman, is a national holiday. There is a special fabric created every year for this day and all of the women want outfits made out of this fabric. It is said here. . . that a ‘good wife’ always buys enough of this fabric to have a shirt made for her husband as well as a dress for herself!

There is an annual celebration in each province for the Day of the Woman. The celebration includes a parade, special speakers, special musicians, and gifts given by the government to local women’s groups. This celebration is often held in Yako but this year it was held in another village a bit outside of Yako.

Since we were not able to attend the celebration, we decided to have our own little International Woman’s Day party at the orphanage.

Amy organized games which were a huge success. Some of the women were laughing so hard, they were crying. All of our children came from the 4 corners of the courtyard to see what all of the excitement was about.

We played a modified version of hot potato which we called ‘pass the balloon baby’ and when the beat of the drum stopped, the lady holding the ‘baby’ had to answer questions about herself.

Then we divided the group into two teams and each team competed to see how many balloons they could stuff under the shirts of our two nurses. I think that you can see how much fun everyone was having.

A party here in Burkina always includes something to eat and to drink and our party was no exception. We ordered meat sandwiches from a local restaurant and everyone had her choice of coffee or tea to drink.

The goal of our party was to let each of our women know that they are so very special and that they are loved by God and loved by us. By the smiles on their beautiful faces, I think that the message was received.

Training for our Baby Caretakers

This past week, together with the other two orphanages in Yako, we held a two-day training session for all of our baby care-takers. In total there were about 40 ladies in attendance.

The discussion topics were chosen by the ladies and included: health and hygiene, the psychological development of a child, professionalism, how to prepare a child to leave the orphanage, nutrition, and balancing the responsibilities of work and home.
The sessions were taught by our social worker, Ely, as well as by a social worker sent by Social Action and by our nurse, Josephine, and by the nurses from the other two orphanages.

Everyone enjoyed extra cups of coffee, sardine sandwiches, and cups of cold water as we listened to the teaching and worked together in the break-out sessions.

The Giving Tree

I want to thank the Lord and praise Him for all the wonderful friends who share the burden of the work here in Burkina Faso. Through the years you have been faithful to fulfill the mandate to send us here, to hold us before the Lord in prayer, and to sustain us in our personal as well as project needs.

This evening I am particularly rejoicing over what God has done in and through the St Agnes Church and their school, St Agnes Academy in Massachusetts. Through the initiative of a very dear friend, Sister Linda Wilk, the school and the church held ‘a Giving Tree’ fund raiser and in less than two weeks raised over $8,000 for our school and orphanage. This is truly a gift that will keep on giving and giving as we sow into the hearts and lives of our children here in Burkina.

I met Sister Linda many years ago when she came to Burkina with a team from Operation Christmas Child. She has become a faithful personal friend to me and a faithful supporter of Sheltering Wings.


And finally, the Lord is allowing her to return to Burkina this summer and she is bringing two of her friends along with her. Hmmmmm, I am smiling in thanksgiving for what the Lord has done and in anticipation of seeing my friend again!

A New Home for our Weavers

In the past, the ladies in our weaving and soap making projects have done their work in a multi-functional area that we called the technical center.  But, this year when we decided to add one more class to our primary school, and considering that we only have a 3 classroom building, we pushed the weaving and soap making ladies literally out into the cold. 

For 4 months they worked without complaining in a temporary area out in the middle of the courtyard.  It was far from ideal but they continued to work with the promise that we would find a more permanent ‘home’ for them.   

Thanks to a generous contribution from a friend, we were able to build a new permanent work area for them, complete with electricity, where they can work protected from the sun and wind, and away from the distractions of our busy courtyard.

Now, more than ever, we will have beautiful hand-woven products for your shopping and gift-giving pleasure!  Please contact Brenda Dantico at the Sheltering Wings office (314-635-6316) if you would like to order place mats for your table, soap, or bookmarks.

Construction in progress--

Noomie, our seamstress at work!

The St Louis Blues and Burkina! What is the Connection?

At first glance one may not make this connection but the real connection is St Louis Blues fans, Tim Hunn and Stephanie Holmen, and their recent visit to Yako.  While getting to know our children, Tim and Stephanie randomly saw some of them wearing St Louis Blues and Cardinals shirts that other visitors had brought in for our children. 

Tim is a fire-fighter and Stephanie is a nurse but they both took leave of their jobs and the comfort of their homes and came to Yako  to work in the orphanage.  Tim helped to build a new work area for our weavers and our soap making projects and served as ‘handyman’ in many other much needed areas of the orphanage.  Stephanie exercised her nursing skills on several occasions as she worked with our local nurses and cared for our babies.

Thanks so much for coming to visit, Tim and Stephanie. . . . and tell the St Louis Blues that the Yako Orphanage says ‘hi’!

Sponsorship Gift Distribution

Whew! Everyone is tired this evening but it is such a ‘good’ feeling of tired. Today we held one of 2 distributions for sponsored children who were the recipients of ‘special gifts’ sent by their sponsors.

The children all came with a parent or care-taker. Some of them even arrived as much as an hour and a half early! We were ready so we took advantage of the extra time and started working with the children as soon as they arrived.

Each child colored a ‘thank you’ picture for his sponsor, got his or her picture taken to send to the sponsor, and then left with their little pile of gifts which sometimes included a new bicycle, a sac of grain, and/or a goat or two.

Lots of smiles and lots of happy families. . . and for me, a heart full of thankfulness for the wonderful sponsors who pour their love out on our children in these tangible ways.

Grandmothers and Care-takers

Getting ready for pictures.

Getting measured for new uniforms

Do you remember Lisa?

Lisa Otterpohl spent one year here with us at the orphanage in 2009-2010. She left in July, 2010 and started her university work that Fall with a major in Social Work.

This past month, Lisa has returned to Yako for a visit. She slipped right back into African life and it has been a great joy to have this time with her.

Among many other things, Lisa spent her time caring for the babies, playing with the older children, and holding art classes for our primary school children.

Thanks for remembering us, Lisa, and thanks for returning to visit.

This is Lisa interacting with some village children.

All Glory to God!

Recently, during a random visit to a village, a pastor asked whether we could look at a young boy who had injured his leg. I expected to see one of the huge ulcers which occur when a wound has not been properly cared for and infection has set in.

But, this time was much more serious. The 16 year old boy had been in a moto accident. His leg was broken and the family used only traditional medicine to treat the break and the wounds.

Now a year and a half later, there was serious infection in the leg, his foot was swollen 2 or 3 times its normal size, the bones were still broken and he was walking with crutches.

We called Dr Zala in Ouayaghuia and made arrangements to take Moise and his father to see the doctor on the following Friday.

Upon arriving at the hospital and having x-rays made, we learned that the leg was broken in two places and that his body was actually generating new bone to replace the now dead bone.

But, the most amazing part of our day was that we learned that there was a team of surgeons and bone specialists arriving that very week-end and we were able to put Moise’s name on the list to see the specialists.

This past week, Moise had surgery and we learned this evening that he is doing well. We do not know many details about the procedure but we do know that the surgeons were able to save his leg.

God’s ways are mysterious and His timing is perfect!!! We thank God for playing this small part in getting Moise where he needed to be in order to see the specialists that God brought all the way to Burkina.

Toys for Tots--

This past week we received a wonderful gift from the Toys for Tots Program sponsored by the US Marines. Four Marines from the US Embassy here in Burkina came to Yako with a huge box of toys for our children.















The toys were for children of all ages from the babies to the primary school age children. There were also several soccer balls for our older boys who love to play ‘football’ as it is called here.















Because there were not enough toys for each child in our primary school, our director chose 5 or 6 of the neediest children from each class and we invited them to stay after school for something special. It was heart-warming to see the smiles of some of our children who possibly had never received a gift of a toy before.










It was also great fun for us to meet our new Marine friends and to introduce them to the project.















Thank you so much to the Marines inside of Burkina and outside who promote this wonderful program throughout the world.

Visit from Messiah College

We were blessed by a visit from students and professors from Messiah College, Grantham, Pennsylvania this week. The whole Burkina team was 14 people who divided into smaller groups and visited various places of ministry in Burkina. Three education majors and 2 professors came to visit Yako.

The students earned credit in cultural studies and also towards their ‘student teaching’ hours as they taught prepared lessons in each of our primary classrooms. The team leader, Angela Hare, also taught lessons in our 5^th and 6^th grade classes.

In addition to teaching, the students melted into daily life with us and participated in caring for the babies and a myriad of other orphanage activities.

Thanks so much for the visit, Messiah College, and we look forward to more times together in the future.

Goodby USA Family - Hello Burkina Family

Saying goodbye is always difficult for me and this trip was no exception. But, I am so thankful that this trip was truly a ‘rest trip’. I worked only a little and now as I return to Burkina most of the things filling my head and heart are sweet memories of times with family and friends.

Of course, ‘home for the holidays’ is always very special and therapeutic. We had memorable times together to remember the birth of our Savior and to celebrate His love.

This is 4-year old Claire

Great Grandma and 4 of the grandchildren.

The magic of Christmas

Family celebrations

And more family celebrations

I enjoyed lots and lots of face-to-face ‘coffee time’ with friends from near and far.

Lunch with friends from California, MO and Columbia, MO.

Coffee with Kate Horrigan

The Mathenys from Kentucky

And, just some everyday family time.

Claire is a ‘bat’ as she hangs upside down

Lillian getting her ears pierced. She isn't so happy in this picture but she was very happy and proud to show her new earrings afterwards.

Family fun with a new WII game

Christmas Blessings

Must take a few minutes to thank the Lord for all of his blessings this year. While my heart resides on two continents, I am happy and thankful to have been able to pass the holidays here at my US home with family and friends.

First snow in Illinois and Hayden, Noah, and Claire made a great snowman.

Reading the Christmas story together on Christmas morning.


Gifts given, gifts received. . . . but, the greatest gift of all is the gift of God's Son, Jesus!


Mom with four great-grand children!

Looking forward to two more weeks of building memories and then returning to my African home in Burkina!

An Average day at the Orphanage

Wendemie goes to Italy!

We are rejoicing because another one of our little ones has been placed in a ‘forever family’. Little Wendemie has been with us for almost three years but this week we have said ‘goodby’ to her and placed her in the loving arms of her mother and father.

We will miss you, Wendemie, but we know that the Lord has great plans for you and many blessings in store for you and your new family.

Liz Returns for a Visit

Want to introduce Dave and Liz Nyitray to you. Liz worked with us for one year in 2008-2009. It was a joy to have Liz with us then and now we have the joy of meeting her husband, Dave.

The couple arrived this past week-end and will only have 2 short weeks with us. . . . but, they are going to be fun-filled weeks of introducing Dave to Burkina and of reconnecting Liz to friends.

After spending just a short time in the 'baby cage' this morning, Astride is already so comfortable with Liz that she has fallen asleep in Liz's arms.

Welcome Dave and Liz!

From Daniel's Tears

A group of friends have caught God's Spirit for Burkina's orphans. They have started a project called From Daniel's Tears. The first project of From Daniel's Tears is selling Burkina bracelets. From Daniel's Tears partners with Eternal Threads to have green bracelets made by girls in Nepal rescued from trafficking! All the proceeds from selling these bracelets goes to the orphans in Burkina.

$1 to provide income to the girls in Nepal

$1 to Little Matheny's orphanage

$1 to Ruth's orphanage.

Quite possibly, the BEST THREE DOLLARS you ever spent! You can buy one for yourself or a hundred for your friends, church, or Bible study to sell. From Daniel's Tears is working on a video that will aid you in advocating for Burkina's orphans.

To order, write a comment, send me an email at yakorphans@gmail.com or send an email to Cami at camiwarning@gmail.com. Also, visit their Facebook page called 'From Daniel's Tears'.

US Embassy Friends

Yesterday we had another very special visit from friends from the US Embassy. John and Jeremy came with the back of their truck full of clothes, milk and rice for the orphanage and a very special gift of German chocolate for our German girls, Anne and Judith. These gifts came from the military spouses association in Germany.

We sat together out in the baby 'cage' talking and getting to know each other better while playing with and hugging babies.

Two of our older boys, Barthelemy and Josué, brought their guitar
and drum and provided background music and atmosphere for us.

What a blessing to receive these visitors and the tangible gifts that they bring.

John's wife and children are in Germany and Jeremy's wife and children are in the US. I hope that in some small way our children can fill the void in their hearts caused by their families being so far away.




Music by Bart and Josue.

My African Girls--

Just wanted to put a little note out with a sweet picture of my three African girls. Left to right, Anne, Tenielle, and Judith. They are special blessings to me and to all of our children here.

Moϊse, Baby Moses

Moϊse is the French name for Moses. Baby Moses came to the orphanage 3 weeks ago with his mother who is not well mentally and his older sister, Marceline, who is 6 years old.

Moses’ mother suffers from epilepsy and while holding Moses in her arms, she had a seizure. The baby fell into the fire and the back of his head was badly burned. Social Action called us and asked us to take the mother and the children in for a few weeks so that our nurses could care for the baby’s burn.

We took the family in but within days realized that the mother is really not capable of caring for her children. In reality, little Marceline was the care-taker of her mother and of Baby Moses.

After much work on the part of our social worker, Ely, and the social workers at Social Action in Yako, we convinced the father, who is elderly, to place Marceline with some extended family in Yako so that she could go to school, to take the mother back home to the village, and to let us keep Moses until his wound is healed. We will take care of Moses until he is around 2 years old, until he is stronger, and not at such risk as he is as an infant.

Please pray for Baby Moses that his wound heals and that he grows strong. And, please pray for this family to find the help that they need to care for their children.

Please let me know if you would like to sponsor Baby Moses.